effloresce

• POS: Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: ef=flo=resce

CIDE DICTIONARY

effloresce, v. i. [L. efflorescere to bloom, blossom; ex + florescere to begin to blossom, incho., fr. florere to blossom, fr. flos a flower. See Flower.].

•  To blossom forth.  Carlyle.  [1913 Webster]
•  To change on the surface, or throughout, to a whitish, mealy, or crystalline powder, from a gradual decomposition, esp. from the loss of water, on simple exposure to the air; as, Glauber's salts, and many others, effloresce.  [1913 Webster]
•  To become covered with a whitish crust or light crystallization, from a slow chemical change between some of the ingredients of the matter covered and an acid proceeding commonly from an external source; as, the walls of limestone caverns sometimes effloresce with nitrate of calcium in consequence of the action of nitric acid formed in the atmosphere.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

effloresce, v.intr.
1 burst out into flower.
2 Chem. a (of a substance) turn to a fine powder on exposure to air. b (of salts) come to the surface and crystallize on it. c (of a surface) become covered with salt particles.

Derivative

efflorescence n. efflorescent adj.

Etymology

L efflorescere (as EX-(1), florere to bloom f. flos floris flower)